A Tale of Two Worlds
by The Nidhogg
Summary: -Discontinued-
1. The War is Still Felt

If you don't want to hear my preface, skip the A/N. I'd recommend it though.

A/n :** Well, it appears we have some serious AU going on here and I believe I owe everyone a brief description. The events of this take place a few years before the Lylat wars started and before Andross attacked anything. So basically before the official starfox timeline even starts. I've also reworked how Corneria functions making it more the homeland of a Colonial power and making it stronger and more expansive than it was portrayed in the canon story. I will have all major canon characters in here one way or another, but in the interest of not making this chapter 8000 words long you won't see a good portion fo them till Chp. 2, sorry about that.**

**Yeah, hopefully this story isn't too slow paced, I had to do some serious exposition and set the plot among other things so bear with me. I think it's interesting enough but that's hardly an unbiased claim. If you were really reading through this and thought "my god this is boring, this guys is just rambling" please inform me of such so I can make proper adjustments. I welcome any and all criticism with open arms. Except flaming or elitism, that just ain't cool.**

**Reuploaded (needed to fix a few major errors, the kind that make you lol hard when they are pointed out):**

**-Managed to misspell Cerinia as Cernia. Yeah...I'm a pro. That was a bitch to fix xD**

**-Little note: Krystal's telepathy/Cerinia being telepaths. It never actually says anywhere the Cerinia is full of telepaths. It could be a rare gift. How would a society of telepaths function? No one could hide the truth from anyone else, and that would never work out. It seems it is presumed they all are, but me saying they aren't is just as valid as saying they are because the Adventures manual never went either way, people just kind of assumed it.**

**Ok no more fuck ups this time, I can do this.**

**Also if you have any questions at all about anything or just want to talk PM me.**

**

* * *

**

Peter Quincy stood with a group of five other humans at the corner of C and 10th streets. He was a boy of sixteen, average height, and had long, straight blonde hair. Waiting for the bus everyone was looking around nervously. _And who wouldn't be nervous, this idea is ridiculous! A joint Human-Cornerian school? In the middle of the fucking DMZ nonetheless? Why the fuck did I sign up for this? _It was then that he saw the large blue and white bus gliding down the street; it looked like it had been built yesterday it was so new. _Blue buses? They were always yellow back on Earth. _The bus pulled up to group of kids and the door swung open, revealing an Older, male, blue furred fox dressed in a white button up shirt and navy blue pants, a small cap to match the pants like police officer's back on earth wore, as the driver. _What the hell's a bluefur doing driving our bus? At least he's a tame one, not one of those ghetto doesn't even know a steering wheel from a gear shifter!_ Disregarding his prejudice he climbed the steps into the bus right behind a pretty, young, blonde haired girl who appeared to be his age. He then heard someone whisper something behind him.

"At least there are some fine women here on Cernia; I was scared for a moment I'd have to do with a bluefur." Peter turned and found a boy staring back at him. He had shoulder length brown hair and wore a white wife-beater and a pair of blue jeans. Peter took a seat near the front, and the brown haired youth took the other seat. He was quick to get to the point,

"The names Johan, Lived and planned on living on Mars, I'm from Houston Colony, but got talked into signing up for this shitfest." Peter returned the greeting.

"I'm Peter, Family never left Earth, and I'm from Seattle. I want to say I did it for the adventure of leaving the planet but really I just wanted to get away from the parents, you know?"

"Yeah," Johan was nodding in agreement, "That's part of the reason this deal seemed so sweet. But can you believe it? We are actually going to school with those fucking Cornerians. But man, isn't it crazy out of the millions who signed up for this we actually got to be part of the thousand? I honestly didn't think I'd make it, only found out later it was random."

"I thought the same thing. I heard this is part propaganda, part-experiment. I suppose getting a bunch of perfect people all told to get a long wouldn't really tell anyone anything. I'd never really imagined myself here. I got coaxed into it by some friends, more as joke than anything." Peter paused for a moment before continuing, "Seriously Cerinia is the shithole of the Empire. We barely got this planet four years ago and only half of it at that. But whatever. So how did you like the starjump?"

"Oh man, I thought I was going to die. That was by far the weirdest thing I've ever experienced and uh…I've done some stuff, so I can say that with some certainty." Johan said talking quickly, Peter could tell he had never been on an Intersystem flight before, but neither had he.

"Yeah man, the jump was crazy. I hear it's the worst Jump, Cerinia is one of the farthest colonies from earth besides maybe Romeo and Juliet, and those two planets are way out there."

Peter was starting to like this Johan. He hadn't expected to make any friends this early on. The whole basis of this 'experiment' was to "heal the rift between our two great and mighty people" as the governor of Cerinia Major, the human controlled continent on Cerinia, had put it. The whole idea was to get a thousand kids from the Empire and put them in a school with a thousand kids from Corneria and her colonies. Now the school was another thing. It was in the middle of the DMZ. The DMZ: the Demilitarized Zone, a mile wide stretch of no man's land that was neutral land between Cernia Major, The larger, human controlled, continent and Cernia Minor the smaller, Cornerian controlled continent. The DMZ was established with the Treaty of Bohan, which was named after the Human controlled city closest to the DMZ, and was the treaty that ended the fighting. Well really not fighting, the war had been incredibly one sided. The only reason the humans stopped was because they'd conquered far too quickly, leaving behind massive swathes of rebellious land that were known to sabotage the war effort whenever possible. They also got beat pretty bad trying to cross the straight that linked Cerinia Major and Minor, it had been the one time Cornerian soldiers showed up en masse and the first time an overconfident human army had been beaten since the war started. The treaty set the border right on the narrowest part of the straight which was no wider than sixty kilometers.

Johan and Peter chatted about everything: music, girls, Cornerians, girls. The bus made an occasional stop which neither boy gave any heed to until one. The bus came to a stop and Peter tapped Johan on the shoulder when he saw a huge gaggle of Cerinians standing by the bus stop.

"The fuck…We getting held up by freedom fighters or something?" Peter asked turning to Johan.

"No man, didn't you hear? They had to admit a couple hundred Cerinians into the school for 'equality'." Johan said with a tone of minor disgust.

"Wow, that's bullshit. Fucking liberals and their equality bullshit. Cerinians aren't goddamn humans, just look at the Hole, that place is a fucking barnyard." Peter blurted out, actually having never seen a barnyard, but he could imagine it. The Cerinians started loading onto the bus, Peter still ranting about Cernians and then stopped. One of the Cerinians just seemed different in his mind; she had two steel rings in her tail and short blue hair that didn't come much past her neck. His first thought was beautiful but that was quickly suppressed. _What the fuck are you thinking? She's a fucking animal._ Peter snapped out of it almost as quickly as he'd gone in but the thought was still fresh in his mind. Johan didn't seem to notice. That or he'd understood what just happened and didn't want to bring it up. The duo rode the rest of the way in silence.

Fox sat looking at window at the ocean that stretched out endlessly right of the edge of the road. He could see the hundreds of small fishing boats out on the water like a bunch of wooden swans in a pond, all of them cautious not to stray over the border and be shot. _Cerinia sure is a beautiful planet, but it doesn't compare to Corneria at all_ Fox sighed as he thought about his home. Well, it used to be his home. He was only a sixteen year old boy yet he'd lost both his parents in two years. He remembered back to when he was eleven and he'd received the news his dad had died fighting the human invaders on this very planet. He remembered six years ago when his mom serving as a nurse in the Cornerian Army had been killed when a human artillery barrage leveled the hospital she was working in. Fox let out another sigh; the planet was beautiful but was it worth that war? Was it worth both his parents' lives? Albeit losses to actual Cornerian soldiers had been light, most of them had stayed on Cerinia Minor to 'keep the peace'.

It was the Cerinians who had taken the worst beating. Corneria had always considered the Cerinians equals, worthy of every defense since discovering the planet on the far reaches of Cornerian exploration and knowledge forty years ago. But that hadn't stopped Corneria from drafting millions of Cerinians to defend the planet while all Corneria did was providing air support,(and piss ass poor air support at that), give them a few doctors and advisors, and give them money. 'Worthy of every assistance' his ass, Corneria threw millions of poorly trained Cerinians into a meat grinder. And they knew it. The Cerinians hadn't been virgins to war, Cerinia had been filled with industrial nations when Corneria discovered it. They had electricity, they had discovered flight, they had the earliest workings and understanding of electronics but no computers. They also had rifles, tanks and battleships which had but to good use on each other. And sadly, some of those weapons even fought against the humans, especially later in the war.

He heard the Cerinians who had been stuck on the human side of the planet after the Treaty were treated like shit. The war was still fresh in every Cornerians mind. Corneria had been virtually swimming in patriotism when the war broke out. What's better to make one feel a part of a great empire than 'defending' your colonies against hordes of uncivilized barbarians? Sadly, news of defeat after defeat and the humans leaping like frogs across Cerinia had quickly dampened their spirits. Yet they never sent any real help. His dad had died late in the war, but at that point it had stopped being a 'war' and had turned into a full retreat into Cerinia Minor. The few Cornerian forces on Cerinia Major were stretched too thin and too few. The Cerinians had never been trained or equipped properly and losses had been horrendous. By the time Fox's dad had died flying a air support at the siege of Lester the Cernians had taken a near 80% fatality rate losing forty five million soldiers to the war, tales of mass mutiny were common but such men were either killed by the humans who killed anything that moved and had fur or their own kind for desertion. It was hard for fox to imagine the desperation behind that decision. Yet Corneria never came to save them, and why should they enter a losing conflict to help one miserable, poorly developed colony? They only stopped the humans when they were massively overstretched at the Continental Divide, the straight between Major and Minor.

"Hey man you alright?" A familiar voice asked. Falco Lombardi has been one of Fox's best friends since he'd been a small pup. When the Cornerian Government asked for volunteers for this experiment Falco and Fox had signed up right away. Well, more like Falco signing them both up and Fox finding out later. James McCloud had been a legend on Corneria and more than a little bias had gone into the selection process. While the process was "random" the selection committee had been sure to put a few people they wanted in there. Namely the son of a Cornerian war hero. And so Falco and Fox were now on a big blue bus headed straight for the most dangerous place in the entire galaxy, The Cernian Major-Minor border, the DMZ, the Line through the Galaxy, the Human-Cornerian border, The Divide. It had many names and for good reason. Borders like this hadn't existed on Corneria or anywhere in her empire for a long time. It was a rude reminder of how the past eerily came back to haunt the future.

"Yeah, just thinking about all the ways this tri race school could go wrong. Why did they put it in the middle of the DMZ?" Fox responded turning to his friend. Falco shrugged,

"I guess it's symbolic."

"I suppose you're right, but I don't care how symbolic it is if war breaks out we'll be the first to know."

"Well let's just hope that the humans don't get to uppity."Falco replied and Fox thought about that. If anyone was going to start the war back up it was Corneria. Cornerians were furious about the war's outcome. It had nearly ended Minister Jung's hope of reelection. He was incredibly popular before the war but now his approval was at 40% and dropping now that he openly supported peace with the humans. Fox still couldn't understand how Cornerians had expected to win the war but keep their sons home at the same time. People always want things, but they are never willing to pay for them.

The bus noiselessly came to a stop and the doors swung open letting on a few more passengers. Fox and Falco were on the door side and Fox looked out the window noticing a little more than a few people getting on. A good ten people were milling about outside the door. _These must be Cornerians who lived on Cerinia before the program. There are never these many people at a stop over at that compound the government has us off planet people living at. _Fox's thoughts were cut short when a tall lynx climbed the steps into the bus. Her spotted tan fur was perfectly groomed and she wore a small gold earring in her ear. She was followed by a pretty poodle but Fox didn't pay nearly as attention to her, his eyes were transfixed with the lynx standing before him. The lynx and the poodle took one of the many open seats one forward and across the row from Fox and Falco. The moment lasted but a second but it was enough for Falco to notice.

Fox felt an elbow in his side, turning he was met by the "ohhh you like her don't you?" look Falco was all too adept at. Fox elbowed him back,

"Shut up." Fox grumbled which prompted a laugh from his avian friend.

"Come on man, I bet you could get her in your bed in a week." Falco declared boldly, and paused, happily noting the mortified look on Fox's face, "That is, if those uptight compound guards let her in."

"I doubt she's that kind of girl." Fox said sheepishly, still flustered by the directness of Falco's comment.

"You'll never know if you don't bother to find out." Falco replied his smile even larger then it was before as Fox's blush deepened even farther.

"Sometimes I don't even know why I'm your friend." Fox said, prompting a light punch on the shoulder from Falco who then spoke.

"C'mon man. You know you love me." Fox and Falco's bantering went back and forth all the way to school.

Krystal started down at the watery greenish soup her mother had made the night before, little pieces of fish floating alongside a few vegetables. _I'm really sick of fish stew_. She thought to herself but her stomach growled and she dug into it anyhow. It had been the staple of the household for awhile now, but hell, it's better than no stew. She was eating at a small wooden table designed to sit four that sat at the center of an even smaller kitchen that made the table seem huge. Krystal's father had left earlier that morning; he was part of Cerinian Auxiliary, the military force loyal to the humans that was the bulk of the garrison and police force on Cerinia. It had not been easy on Krystal's family, many Cerinians still held a burning hatred of the Humans, including Krystal's parents. In a way they were entitled to it, they'd lost three sons to the war, but Krystal had lost three brothers and she was fine, or at least more so than her parents. She could only vaguely remember one of them anyhow, the other two has moved out long, long ago. She couldn't hold it against her father for hating humans but being part of their army, good jobs were scarce and the economy had been pretty poor after the human occupation.

"Krystal honey, you ready for your first day?" Krystal's mom, Kreya, called out from the living room that was next to the kitchen the two connected by a doorless entry. The house the Sujik family lived in was a small wooden thing with sheet metal roof that got brutally hot during the day. A kitchen that doubled as a dining room, a living room with a few scattered mats to sit on to prevent one from getting their clothes dirty on the dirt floor poorly covered by wooden planks, and two bedrooms off to the side. The appliances were gas burning and refrigeration was nonexistent out here, luckily fresh fish came into the shanty town from the docks every day. The outhouse was out back in the small dirt lot behind the house. The Sujik's were lucky to live on the edges of the Hole where they were still connected to a power grid that worked a good 70% percent of the time. They owned a small TV and a radio. They were considered very wealthy by their neighbors who often crowded the small living room to watch the TV. She'd heard in the human district and downtown Bohan the power worked all the time. She didn't believe it, though the shimmering towers that rose up to the east of the Hole and by what she saw on the TV almost made her consider it. Almost.

"Yeah, once I'm done eating." Krystal wasn't as nervous as she thought she should have been. She herself had nothing against the humans, which was rare among the Cernians living in the "Hole", the huge low income housing outside Bohan built by and for Cernians. It had existed before the war but had grown a thousandfold when the war broke out with a virtual river of refugees flooding into Bohan from the West. She was personally more excited to be leaving the Hole for the first time. Her parents had said they hadn't always lived here and that the Hole was a very new place. It didn't matter, she'd been very young when they'd come here and only had vague memories of anything outside of it. Krystal ate her soup quickly and grabbed her school bag from the table. Heading into the living room she was pulled into an embrace by her mother. Her mother held it and then pulled back and looked into her eyes.

"Just remember my daughter, do your best and perhaps one day you'll be able to work for the humans and escape this hell." Her mother told her looking into Krystal's eyes with her own pair, a pair that had seen far too much sorrow to retain the happiness Krystal vaguely remembered from her very early youth. She was wearing the traditional clothing of this area of Cernia, a simple white and yellow bra and loincloth with three steel rings in wrapped around her blue furred tail. Krystal's eyes darted over to the elaborate staff that had always leaned up against the wall in a corner. Daddy had said it was families most precious heirloom and had been a weapon hundreds of years ago. Bohan was near the equator of the planet and the temperature stayed consistently warm year round. Krystal didn't wear that anymore, she'd been told to wear human inspired clothing. Apparently the Cornerians saw it as inappropriate for the classroom, her walking around in clothes they considered 'scandalous'. Some people are just crazy. Instead she wore a simple white blouse and a skirt that came down to her knees, in her mind wearing so much clothes made her feel like a Northlander. However she kept the two steel rings on her tail, they could take some of her heritage from her but not all of it.

Krystal hugged her mother again and then headed out the door. But Krystal's eyes briefly darted over to the elaborate staff that had always leaned up against the wall in a corner. Daddy had said it was family's most precious heirloom and had been a weapon hundreds of years ago. She stepped out onto the dirt street, small children in loincloths played out in the streets, mother's out on the steps watching them play, their faces impassive as if they no longer cared about what was going on around them. Many of them were widows. Even more had lost a child to the war. Most of them weren't even from Bohan originally, but like the Sujiks, had moved here after or during the war. Krystal's family had lived in a big house in a city called Lester or so her parents had told her. Lester was roughly five hundred and sixty kilometers west of Bohan but had a similar culture and heritage so Bohan wasn't wildly different. She'd heard long ago Lester and Bohan had lain within the same boundary back when multiple governments had ruled Cerinia prior to Corneria's intervention forty years ago. But nowadays there was only one boundary and it was hard to imagine anymore of those bothersome things. How would anyone do anything with a bunch of boundaries all over the place? No wonder that system had been given up.

Krystal plodded on down the street her feet getting dusty because the sandals she wore, her human clothes getting her more than a few odd stares and a few hostile comments. She had to walk about two kilometers to reach the compound they'd built to house the humans going to the newly built Union high. Krystal was part of a group of whom after some lobbying from the Cornerians and other Pro-Cerinian Quality groups had been admitted into the new high school. Now she and about two hundred other teenaged kids from the Hole would be going to a decent school. The humans had built a few schools in the Hole but that was about it. Literally built them and told the Cerinians to teach themselves.

Most kids had gone to the schools after a few community organizers got them running but they were incredibly overcrowded and underequipped. Many of the teachers were volunteers and most had taught somewhere before the war. The community had tried to raise money for books, supplies and a salary for the teachers but such things were so expensive. Krystal had been given a lot of supplies when she'd been admitted into the program and she guarded them jealously. Krystal had been one of the better students at her school which was part of the reason she was selected for admittance into the new high school. Maybe now she could get a real education.

She started to pass through the shopping district that was the closest the average human ever came to interacting with the real Cerinia. Some Cerinians had elected to do jobs, mostly manual labor and other such low income/low skill work in the human sectors of Bohan, and they didn't really represent the average Cerinian at all. They lived in a different section of Bohan, on the North East side, where as the Hole comprised the entire west of Bohan, going all the way up to the massive concrete wall that marked the DMZ, The wall wasn't originally built for defense, most of the turrets faced inward. Some tried to escape by boat, tunnel, what have you. Krystal knew a few who had tried, none had made it.

People bustled through the market place, humans mixed in with Cerinians to form a truly rare sight; however there was a long way to go. In the middle of the square was a massive Human tank armed by human soldiers in there odd patterned green uniform. They didn't even trust the CA (Cernian Auxiliary) to keep the peace in this potential powder keg. Most of the Cerinians who held shops here kept their traditional clothes but a significant number wore human clothes as to not alienate their human customers. Krystal kept walking and eventually reached the gate to the human compound.

"Stop! Have your papers ready!" Shouted one of the human guards stationed at the gate when Krystal got within 20 meters. The Hole had stopped being built about 40 meters ago leaving a long strip of open land making it hard for anyone to sneak past the guard towers into the human zone. Krystal pulled the passport she'd been given by the humans upon entering the program and a few other sheets of paper authorizing her to pass the checkpoint.

"Hands up and drop you bag!" The guard shouted again when Krystal got closer to the gate. Krystal complied and the guard walked over, never letting his rifle sights dip off her, and picked up the bag. It was understandable; there had been attacks on guards by Cerinian freedom fighters. They had cooled down in the past while but they were defiantly still a felt presence in the Hole. They'd been known to launch suicide attacks, and little girls were just as likely to blow themselves up as grown men if prompted by the right people.

Three other guards kept guns aimed at her while the guard who yelled at her, Krystal assumed he was in charge, searched her bag and looked at her paper work. Handing back her paperwork, Krystal was surprised when the guard spoke to her, "You're the last one to come through this checkpoint, your bus arrives in ten minutes at A and 4th street." Krystal merely nodded and walked through the chain link fence as the gate slid open revealing something Krystal hadn't seen since moving into the Hole all those years ago: a clean, paved road.

She arrived at the bus stop and found two groups standing there, a group of about eight humans and about twelve Cerinians. All of them looked back on her as she walked up and she instinctively joined the group of Cerinians. They had a long way to go to break down the walls they'd built up.

* * *

A/N: **Wow. I've seen longer chapters, but I crammed as much info as possible into those 4600 words. Good god, I hope you guys made it through there. I couldn't really think of any other way to make an AU this extreme make sense and even then I think I still have even more plot holes to address in the next chapter, but it shouldn't be nearly as bad. More action/dialouge/romance all the goodies, I promise. I also sincerely hope none of you were put off by the racist undertones of the humans. I didn't want to write another "Yeah the world is all perfect and happy and snuggly bunny lollipops" fic but I do hope I didn't over do it in there. This story took a lot of inspiration from the movie "District 9" if you didn't figure that out already.**

**And if I missed any: Cernia=Cerinia. I'm pretty sure I missed a few whilst fixing that little (ehm, massive) blunder.**


	2. Rebels, Romance and Reunion

Krystal looked out the window of the large blue bus, now full of passengers. She noted that the Cerinians has all congregated in the back while the human majority had migrated to the front. Krystal remembered more than a few humans getting up and moving to the front when the Cerinians sat near them. She also saw Cerinians doing the same thing. She shared her seat with a tall Cerinian youth, he was quite handsome and well built, she wouldn't mind being more than friend with him, but neither of them was talking. The street the bus cruised down was lined by chain link fences, each a good four meters tall and topped with barbed wire. The street passed directly through the Hole on its way to one of the few gates in the DMZ wall and the barriers that held the Cerinians in elsewhere were the same here. There were steel frame passenger bridges that passed above the road allowing transit between the two sides. The bridges were crowded with blue foxes going about their daily lives, none of them giving any heed to the buses driving beneath them.

Eventually the bus reached the massive concrete wall that had been built to mark the border, among other things. Krystal noted a good number of the soldiers and turrets on the wall looking toward the Hole rather than the Cornerian side. The bus came to a halt in what appeared to be a weapons depot. Krystal saw hundred of both human soldiers and CA, Cerinian Auxiliary, running around in orderly chaos. Tanks and armored cars were lined up along one side and a few thin helicopters, the humans referred to them as "Nighthawks", lay idle along the other. Barracks were in three of the four corners or the square depot. The depot was rather small and probably a show of force rather than an actual garrison to defend against Cornerian attack, which if happened would probably see the cities on both sides completely destroyed within hours. A soldier got on the bus, most of his blue fur obscured beneath the dark green, forest patterned camouflage he wore, only his face was showing. He wore a black helmet and a matching armored vest over his uniform. Both read "CA" in big bold white lettering.

"Everyone off the bus! Let's get this done!" the Auxiliary soldier barked motioning his arm back and forth pointed down the steps wanting for them to get off the bus as quickly as possible. Everyone shot up and the bus emptied quickly, even the humans who normally disregarded anything said by a Cerinian listened to the imposing soldier. Krystal stepped off the bus and noticed other buses had pulled up and were also unloading their passengers. There were now hundreds of Cerinians and humans in the depot but the CA wouldn't let it get out of hand. Another group of CA soldiers motioned for the group that had gotten of her bus to follow them. They all complied, Krystal didn't that she was the lone Cerinian in the small group she was moving with. Off to her right she noticed a long blonde haired human youth. Something told her he was special; she didn't really know why she just felt it. She'd been having odd feelings like that about people lately, it wasn't a mere judgment. It was like she _knew _what a person was really like. It was something she really couldn't explain in words. She hadn't old anyone yet, who would believe her anyways?

The CA got everyone over towards the gates but they weren't opening. One of the CA guys was talking to what looked like a human officer. They looked like they were arguing but eventually the human backed off and made a hand signal. The huge iron door, almost six meters tall began to slide open, splitting down the middle. It was not the smoothest mechanism and opened very loudly, Krystal could faintly hear another gate opening in the distance. _Is that what the holdup was about? They had to open the Cornerian gate at the exact same time? Give me a break_… Krystal thought to herself as she waited for the CA to give the go ahead to pass through the gate.

The gates were now fully open revealing the nicest school Krystal had ever seen. It was the lone building out on the dusty strip of land that was the DMZ. The two story building almost gleamed in the sunlight, and she had never seen such a nice field.

"Looks just like a school back on Earth," said the long blonde haired youth off to her side. _All Earth has schools like this? He has to be exaggerating; there is no way they could afford schools like that for everyone!_ Krystal launched her mental rebuttal, and oddly the blonde kid turned to her.

"Did you say something to me bluefur?" He asked in English as he turned to face her. He had a menacing tone that Krystal had not expected. He put extra emphasis on the last word. Krystal had been taught English at the school and was quite proficient in it, but still struggled at times when people spoke to fast or multiple people spoke at the same time.

"To you I said nothing." She stated flatly, her English taking on a Cerinian syntax and accent which the humans described as sounding 'French', whatever that meant.

"I'm pretty sure you did but, whatever." The boy then turned and his friends gave her some sidelong glances before continuing their conversation. _Odd, did he somehow hear me thinking? _Krystal pondered but gave up as the CA were ordering the huge gaggle of students to move. It was only a few hundred meters to the school across a flat dirt expanse and the group of twelve hundred or so made it to the building in short order. The school's fields were an oasis in the dirt fields meant to allow anyone crossing to be spotted easily, and shot. The CA started funneling them towards a large, windowless building that was attached to the side of the main school. As they got close Krystal saw a blue sign with white lettering that read "Auditorium" and under it something was written in an alphabet she'd seen a few times but had no idea how to read, she presumed it was Cornerian. She entered the building and her vision went dark for a moment after being out in the sunlight for so long.

Krystal gasped in awe when she entered the building and looked around. Never had she seen a building so big, not even on the TV. She noted many of the other Cerinians acting the same way; the humans didn't even so much as notice how unimaginably high the ceiling was. Even more CA soldiers were in the auditorium directing the students on were to sit. It appeared they'd already sat a good half the kids and were interspersing Cerinians with Humans. One of the soldiers pointed at her and then motioned for her to go down the row he stood next to and take the nearest seat. Krystal did as she was told and hastily took her seat and set her bag beneath the seat cushion.

Fox waited impatiently as their group of about a thousand Cornerians milled about outside a blue double door with a sign reading "Auditorium" underneath the same word in English. Fox was fluent in English, every single one of the Cornerians accepted were. The government had taught them in four months what it took eight years of normal schooling to achieve. The process relied on eight hour a day sessions of English all while hooked up to these devices that stimulated various parts of the brain as they were taught in English. It was very effective.

The two governments had agreed when setting up this place to set the official language to the Humans "English", which made no sense. Why was their language called English when they were humans? Why not Humanish? The history of the humans book he'd 'read' (more skimmed through on the flight to Cerinia) had said it was their language because the Americans had the biggest business and everyone learned it so they could talk with the American companies. So why not call it Americanish? It was infinitely vexing, but leave it to the humans to make absolutely no sense.

There was then mock cheering as the Cornerian soldiers who had been blocking the entrance opened the doors and stepped back letting the restless tide of Cornerian teenagers through the double wide door frame. Fox and Falco were near the front of the pack and entered to auditorium to find most of it filled with Humans. They were being told what to do by what appeared to be Cerinians but they wore human uniforms and had 'CA' written in English lettering on their black helmets and body armor.

"I heard the humans had Cerinian soldiers, I wonder how they keep them loyal?" Falco stated almost rhetorically as he and Fox climbed the stairs that ran along each side of the block or chairs until they were stopped by one of the Cerinian soldiers.

"Well I guess they do it somehow," Fox replied as the Cerinian soldier motioned them into a row. Thankfully they didn't have to sit by any Humans. It took a few more minutes but the human's pet Cerinians worked very efficiently and had the rest of the Cornerians seated with little delay. Once it was confirmed everyone was there the lights dimmed and two figures walked out onto the stage. Immediately everyone's conversations stopped as the two figures took seats at the center of a table that had ten chairs behind it. One of the figures was a female human, dressed in a black business suit , had long black hair and was remarkably tall. The other was a middle aged, middle height Cornerian Golden Retriever who wore a suit similar to his human counterpart. The Cornerian spoke in English into a microphone that had been set up in front of him.

"Good morning and welcome to your first day at Union high. I'm one of your principles. I doubt you know my name, but I am Mr. Hammer and this lady to my side is also your principle. You may call her Mrs. Gerald." The retriever paused and looked around the room, noting the faces on the mixed bunch of students. He continued his speech,

"Now I'm not going to pretend like this is a normal school, because it is not. You undoubtedly noticed the soldiers telling you were to sit. They will remain here and be posted throughout the school for the duration of our school year. You may also have noticed that this school is built in the middle of the DMZ, which no sane person would ever put a school or any other building inside of under normal circumstances," That prompted a few scattered laughs from the crowd but Mr. Hammer kept talking, "And now, the most immediately obvious fact. This is the first time Cornerians, Humans and Cerinians have attended the same school at the same time. I'm not going to pretend like we all trust each other, however by the end of this year I'm going to expect it. We have set your classes up so that whenever possible the class is equally balanced between the three races. All you're classes will have two teachers and like Mrs. Gerald and myself, one will be Cornerian or Cerinian and the other will be Human." A low rumble rolled through the crowd was this was announced but was silenced when Mrs. Gerald began to speak.

"Without any other announcements, we'll move on an introduce the faculty leaders of each grade…" she trailed on and two by two the leaders of the Senior through Freshmen classes, every time it was one Cornerian or Cerinian and a Human. They hadn't had these 'classes' at school in the Hole, it had been dependant on knowledge not age like here. Krystal apparently was a 'sophomore'. Each of the team Leaders gave their little speeches about all sorts of things: Sports, after school Activities, clubs, all sorts of new things Krystal hadn't known in her school before. After a good hour of speeches the assembly was over,

"Please head to your first class," Mrs. Gerald spoke as students had just started to get up form their seats, "We'll be on a slightly shortened day and get out at 5:00." _Five o'clock? Thats a long school day, _Fox thought immediately following her principles statement. This was going to be a long year.

"Hey Falco we got first period together right?" Fox called out to his blue avian friend as he pulled out the schedule and school map he'd been given yesterday when he and Falco had moved into the compound. His feathered friend reached into his back pocket fidgeting around until he pulled out a white piece of paper.

"Uh yeah, Physics right?" He paused looking at the schedule closely, "With Ms. Reinard? Wasn't that your mom's middle name or something?" Fox gave his friend an odd look and looked down at his schedule,

"No man you probably read it wro…" He cut himself off when it did in fact read 'Ms. Reinard' "…huh you're right. That's a weird coincidence. My mom got killed in the war remember?"

"Yeah well let's get to class..it's..that way" Falco said pointing down one of the hallways. They walked a short distance, the crowds of confused students thinning the farther they got from the auditorium.

"Lets see…113…115...118..." Fox counted of the room numbers but was cut off by the bell ringing, "What the fuck!" he yelled as he and Falco took off trying to reach Room 120 hopefully before the teacher noticed.

"Maybe if you hadn't got us goddamn lost we wouldn't be late!" he growled at his avian companion who'd taken them all the way to the end of the wrong hallway before realizing they were in the wrong place.

"Oh it's the first day I doubt we're the only ones!" he shouted back as the reached the navy blue door that was left open. The two friends slowed down and tried to sneak in past the vulpine teacher who was turned around facing the electronic whiteboard. It didn't work; she didn't even turn around but began chastising them right away.

"I'll expect you to be on time more often." The voice made Fox freeze, it was like an electric shock to the very deepest reaches of his memory. _It can't be_. It was then that the teacher turned revealing a relatively youthful red fox. "I'll let this one slide…oh my god." She said and then cupped her hands to her mouth. Fox's knees almost gave out beneath him as he mumbled in a quavering voice.

"M-mom?" The class burst out laughing thinking Fox was mortified that his mother was the teacher, all expect for Falco who stood speechless as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Without another word Vixy and Fox were deep in an embrace, both of them nearly at the point of tears. The laughter stopped almost instantly as Vixy began to sob softly into her sons shoulder.

"It thought I'd never see you again." She whispered into Fox's ear as they held the embrace. Fox was almost crying himself.

"Why didn't you come back?" It was then that Vixy pulled away from fox and held him looking straight into his emerald eyes.

"Don't you think for a second I wouldn't have come back if I could. I got stuck behind enemy lines and the war ended. I couldn't find anyone to smuggle me out." Fox didn't even know how to handle this moment. For five years he assumed his mother was dead, and now she stood there before him. Fox had gone through early puberty without either of his parents and only his uncle Peppy to be there for him.

"We'll talk later, but I have to teach this class." She dismissed Fox and turned to her class acting as if nothing had happened. Fox stumbled over to an empty seat by Falco; all the eyes were on the dazed fox as he took his seat. Vixy then started to talk,

"As you probably know my name is Ms. Reinard, and though I'm Cornerian I actually living on the human side. It's a long story involving the war that I don't feel like going into right now. You may not have noticed Mr. Grey over there in the back," Vixy pointed to a man slumped over a desk working on something at a large desk that was situated at the back of the room in a corner whilst Vixy's was up front. The man turned toward the class but went back to his work, "Mr. Grey and I will be you're physics teachers for the year and if any of you have Health I teach that later in the day with Mrs. Griffin."

Vixy continued on with her speech but Fox was poked in the side by whoever was sitting opposite him. Fox turned and found a big, gray lupine with a small goatee and purple eyes the culprit. The wolf was quite a bit bigger than fox and looked pretty muscular.

"That really your mom?" he asked in a hushed tone as to not provoke his vulpine teacher.

"Yeah," Fox said sadness entering his voice, "I thought she died five years ago."

"Oh man, I'm not sure whether to tell you sorry or congratulations." He said with a small laugh, Fox couldn't help but crack a smile. He liked this fellow.

'The names Wolf by the way and these two, "Wolf pointed over his shoulder at a Panther with a long scar under his eye and a green lizard, "Are Panther and Leon. We've all lived on Cerinia our whole lives. Our parents were some of the original colonizers." Fox chatted happily with wolf the rest of the period. Yet the revelation that his mother had been alive all these years still made him uneasy. Others had gotten out, even after the war ended. The humans were good about letting Cornerians go, it was part of the treaty. Why had his mother stayed? Glancing up at her writing something on the board he was determined to find out, just how he didn't know. At the end of the day he and his mother were separated by only two kilometers, they simply had to be the two most dangerous two kilometers in the galaxy. But, why hadn't she come back? Was it something he did?

Miyu pulled the gym shirt she'd been given over her head, it was already third period. Miyu's friend Fay was already dressed and followed Miyu out the door. The Gym had been built to accommodate the human sport "Basketball" and had two odd looking metal rings with nets draped off them. Apparently you tried to throw a ball through it and that scored your team points, how hard could that be? Most of the guys had already gotten dressed down; _typical of them, always rushing everything,_ she smirked to herself. Predictably there were three big groups: The Cerinians, the Humans and the Cornerians. All had formed their own packs but she did notice a few exceptions. She saw a Cerinian boy talking too and getting a few laughs out of two Cornerian girls and a fox and a wolf talking to some humans..._Hello hot stuff!_ Her eyes switched back to the wolf who was deep in a conversation with some humans who looked more than a little uncomfortable. Miyu started walking over towards the wolf, Fay following close behind her.

"What are we doing?" her canine companion inquired and Miyu answered with a little smile,

"Hunting tail."

"Which one? The fox or the wolf? Or god forbid a human..,"

"The wolf, you could take the fox if you want, he's cute but, hot damn, that wolf is just gorgeous." Miyu stated her voice getting preemptively flirtatious as she approached the wolf; she managed to hear the tail end of his conversation with the humans.

"…yeah you guys should try out after school, we could use some strong guys like you. Hey Fox you should come too you'd be…" Wolf cut off as he noticed a particularly good looking female headed his way. Turning to greet her she got the first word in,

"Hey, couldn't help but notice you over here. The name's Miyu." She said her deep cerulean eyes staring deeply into Wolf's purple. Wolf flashed a smile, his long white fangs like ivory spears.

"The names Wolf, you from the compound or…" Wolf asked but was answered before he could finish by the excited lynx.

"No, I live with my Mom in the city. My dad's with the Army." The two gym teachers were out in the middle of the gym calling their students in.

"Alright, let's get this over with. We aren't going to be doing anything today but If you could all take a seat," the large white tiger motioned to the ground in front of him, "Coach Hendrix and I will be talking to you about sports programs here at Union High." A very dark skinned human stood from a chair he'd been sitting on next to his tiger cohort. Both teachers wore white shirts with navy blue pants, the schools colors. Coach Hendrix had a booming voice that demanded unconditional respect.

"My name is Coach Hendrix; in addition to being one of the two gym teachers here I am also the American Football coach." Miyu had positioned herself next to Wolf and his fox friend, who kept glancing at her thinking she didn't notice, and saw Wolf's face light up upon the mention of this 'American Football'. _What's Wolf doing getting all worked up over a human sport? And what's the difference between 'American' Football and regular football? Humans are always so vexing…_Her momentary thought was cut off as Coach Hendrix kept speaking, " I am hoping I don't just get humans out there, this school is all about unity." The human glanced over at Wolf, seemingly noticing the lupines positive reaction to his speach, "I'm hoping to get at least a couple of you Cornerians and Cerinians out there." He then pointed straight at Wolf, "You, young man!" Wolf jumped a little, and pointed at himself to make sure the Coach was talking to the right person. The human nodded, "What's your name?"

"Wolf, sir!" Wolf barked out, a little formally getting a few laughs from some humans who thought the coach was picking on him.

"You coming out for football? You looked about as giddy as a junebug over there." The coach said, getting even more laughs from the humans. Wolf, a little flustered, responded less energetically,

"Yes sir! Planning on trying out for QB sir!" Wolf's remark got a particularly loud snicker from a tall, well built human who, Miyu guessed, was a 'QB' and didn't take kindly to a Cornerian threatening his position. _Oh my wolfy will show that boy up so hard he'll take the next plane back to earth._ Miyu tried to send the most menacing glance she could at the human boy.

"Good, be sure to bring your friends." Coach Hendrix said and then continued on with speech, but Miyu wasn't listening she was busy starting at that gorgeous face of Wolf's. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that cute fox doing the same thing to her. _I should see if Fay will go for that, I can't have that poor boy staring at me like a lovesick puppy. _

Three helicopters cut through the arctic air of the Cerinian Northlands, sending a breeze through the wintery evergreen forest only a hundred meters below them. The three bulky troop carrying, "Nighthawks" had their doors open and a manned turret protruding from both openings. General Yao sat in the middle seat of the middle Nighthawk, two human soldiers wearing Arctic camouflaged jackets, vests and helmets that were designed to keep out the frigid cold sat next to him. Yao wore a similar outfit himself. Sitting there flying through the frigid Northlands he swore he was the only person in the entire Empire who understood this war. The Cornerians were the first intelligent life form they'd ever encountered. There had been life on many other colonized planets but they had never found anything like themselves. He truly thought the preemptive strike on Cerinia had been a product of rampant xenophobia and isolationism once it was discovered there was a race of people out there that may be more advanced than humanity. Breaking a six hundred year feeling of Manifest Destiny had been hard on humanity, they had thought it was there right to every planet and every resource in the galaxy, and why not? They'd colonized unopposed until finding Cerinia.

The General was interrupted from his thoughts by a voice ringing through the headset he wore to allow communication in the deafening noise of flying.

"We're on approach to Point North, We'll be there soon. Eyes on the ground don't let any insurgents get a shot off." The pilot said in a no nonsense voice.

The situation in the North was bad. While the south had been mostly pacified out of fear and war, the North had not been nearly hit as hard. The people here were not nearly as accepting of Human rule and had been causing far too many problems. Yao suspected the Cornerians were arming them, he didn't doubt it. Port security was a joke here, with almost ten CA soldiers up here for every human trooper. There were bound to be disloyal troops and consequently 'slip-ups'. Like almost letting a shipment of five thousand assault rifles through port security was a 'slip-up'.

They'd sent Yao here to fix the problem, but there was nothing he could do. Increasing the number of CA didn't help him in the least, some CA soldiers from the more loyal South maybe, but not these lighter furred northern bastards, they were as about as loyal as a whore for a wife. He needed humans. But the humans were spread far too thin, the invasion of Cerinia has been executed flawlessly, but the follow up logistics had been quite the opposite. The 'war', Yao preferred to call it what it really was: Genocide, had been so successful and with no real retaliation form Corneria, Congress hadn't felt the need to send anymore troops to Cerinia. They'd conquered and held the planet this long, why did they need reinforcements now? The human army had better things to do then defend an unimportant border colony from a weak power that was unwilling to defend itself.

The politicians made Yao's blood boil. The only reason Corneria hadn't fought them tooth and nail was because they didn't need to. Cerinia was not the richest planet ever discovered, it didn't have any strategic value until the war started, it wasn't _worth_ sending troops and starting a full blow war over. They'd relied on local troops and only intervened to prevent humans from entering Cerinia Minor were most Cornerians on Cerinia lived. He was one of the few people who could see the cracks forming already. The South remained stable especially the west, they'd been so decimated from the war it had blown a hole so deep into their cultural identity they would be down and out for a very long time. But how long would it last? The Northlands were on the point of open rebellion, how long before such ideas spread southward? No matter how tightly you lock people in ghettos they will find a way to destroy you if you don't watch them. He _needed _humans, he needed to bring in companies from Earth, he needed to put them to work actually helping the efforts of the Empire rather than barely subsisting of fishing and other such 3rd world jobs they did now.

One of the side turrets opened up, a blinding beam of white light shooting out of it in a long continuous burst. Yao heard small pinging noises as people below the copter opened up with small arms fire. _So it's already begun._


	3. A Blaze in the Northern Sky

Stood there leaning to the city moon,  
casting silhouettes tall to grip her white rooms  
the black-clad voyeur in his black-clad masque  
in the serpentine sun of tragedy basked

Stood there cursing at the soul-dead mass  
with their fabled illusions, the vain dreams that passed  
splinters of a life rushing by in the whirl  
alone, silent warrior in a fantasy world

"Artifacts of the Black Rain" by In Flames

* * *

**A/N** I loved how Syxxfox added song lyrics before all his chapter so I decided why not I?

Well I hope you enjoy this, I still hate this story but I'm sticking it out. It's a learning experience now.

* * *

Peter sat in his third period class. He could tell this one was going to suck, Cerinian History. Even worse the teachers had divided the class of about thirty people into six groups of five and each was to represent a different pre-human Cerinian nation. Even worse than having to be a Cerinian nation, _and seriously were the fuck is Fushina?_ was being in a Cerinian nation with a bunch of Cerinians. That had just been how the dice rolled and Peter had gotten screwed. To really put the icing on the cake that one Cerinian female was in his group and something about her made him feel really odd. He swore she would talk to him without anyone else hearing it.

"So…uh…what's your name?" nervously asked a relatively small looking Cerinian female with longish white hair, who was in his group.

"Peter" He stated as flatly and coldly as he could. He really wanted to get out of here. It was then that the other female, the one he'd been so nervous around spoke to him, almost making his heart jump out of his chest.

"That's a nice name, my names Krystal." She said in a voice that almost sang to him whenever he'd heard it. He steeled his expression best he could, _what the fuck is wrong with you! Stop getting that feeling!_ He mentally chastised himself. Even the mere thought of a Human-Cerinian relationship sickened him. He honestly could not think of one thing more taboo than that. He couldn't even begin to imagine the plethora of possible disease he could get from such a relationship too.

"I guess you have a nice name," Peter said trying not to act polite but not be a complete asshole either. God knows why but the Cerinian simply beamed at him. _She has really beautiful eyes…and her hair it's just…STOP THAT! _He once again put the mental beat down on himself and turned away not wanting to look at her anymore, lest he be stricken with any more such disgusting thoughts. _Her form is perfect, her breasts…STOP THAT! _

Krystal looked over at the blonde headed human. He acted so strangely, yet she still got that feeling he was a special person. She was also getting a new sense from him, one that exhilarated her but also scared her worse than anything she could imagine. She got a feeling that this human was infatuated with her but was struggling with something. _Why do I know this? I've only said ten words to the guy! _But Krystal just _knew _it was true. She looked over at him, as she did his blue eyes darted away as fast as hers had come. _Was he staring at me? I really do like his eyes though…and his hair is so interesting._ Krystal slowly lost herself to her fantasies and was soon gone to them; with a very apprehensive human sitting right across from her.

* * *

Fox sat across from his newly found lupine friend. The grey wolf was completely focused on explaining American Football to Fox. He and Panther had become fascinated by it a few years back when they'd stumbled across it on the internet.

"So you see here, you have eleven guys on the field. One team plays offense while the other plays defense. Your goal is to get the ball from one end of the field by either running it or passing it…" They were supposed to be lifting weights, it was fourth period and they hadn't gone far from gym. Wolf's friend Panther was half-listening on the other side of Wolf while he did 'bicep curls. He hadn't appeared to strong at first but next to Wolf that was understandable, but Panther was strong enough to lift an eighteen kilo dumbbell with little difficulty. Falco was off in a corner, he's taken fancy to some gray cat and he and she were off in some corner talking it up. Fox stole a glance over at the tall lynx named Miyu. She was doing crunches not too far off from were Fox and Wolf sat. Suddenly she looked over and caught his eye. Fox blushed and quickly looked away.

"So you think you're interested in playing?" Fox quickly turned back to Wolf who now wore a devilish grin on his face. "You like her don't you?" Fox didn't know how to respond to Wolf's unexpected question.

"No…er…uh, not really" He stuttered , with his hand instantly going to the back of his neck.

"Don't lie to me, that's like the fifth time you've looked at her. Come on" Wolf said and then got to his feet pulling Fox up with him. Wolf started walking over toward Miyu his vulpine friend in tow. Fox tried to break free but Wolf was too strong for him.

"Miyu, let me introduce my friend Fox." And with that Wolf pushed Fox almost right into Miyu. Fox was completely lost for words; he had no idea what to say. The lynx got up from mat where she'd been doing crunches and stood level with Fox.

"Hey," Fox heard her speak but was too fazed to say anything back. He did notice however that Miyu seemed a lot more interested in Wolf then he. _Does she like him? Maybe it's for the better…god I'm pathetic._ After a very awkward few seconds Wolf cut in.

"So Miyu, you should come to the football try outs after school. Fox and I will be trying out, isn't that right" Wolf tried to save the situation and gave Fox a little nudge trying to get Miyu to acknowledge him.

"I might, I've got nothing better to do." She responded giving her full attention and a heart melting smile, to Wolf and totally ignoring Fox.

"Cool, see you then." Wolf broke off the conversation and Miyu gave him another big smile which he eagerly returned. Once Fox and Wolf were back at the bench Panther started cracking up.

"You got some mad lady skills Fox."

"Shut up. I want to see you do better." Fox shot back, now angry at himself for blowing it so bad with Miyu. Wolf winced when he said that and Panther just started laughing even harder.

"Pick a girl. But make her a nice one," He said not even looking around to see who was in the room. Fox made a quick pass of the room and his eyes settled on a mountain lion. She looked pretty enough, Fox would give her a seven or eight but nothing compared to Miyu.

"That one." Fox pointed at the female mountain lion that was doing the bench press. Panther got up calmly and walked over to her. Within moments she and Panther were laughing and talking like they'd known each other since they were kids. After awhile of that Panther broke off from the conversation leaving behind a very giddy, smiling girl.

"As you were saying?" Was all Panther said when he sat back down on the bench and went back to lifting.

* * *

They'd killed his family. They'd killed his students. They'd ruined everything. Jorry Freihen was walking down the streets of Frondhiem slowly, a light drizzle falling from the overcast sky. He was lost to his thoughts. _Everything was fine until they came. I had a job, I had a wife and our country was becoming the most powerful in the world. I hate all these foreigners, I hate the Cornerians for not helping us and I hate the Humans for all they did. _He was a broken man, when the humans had seized Frondhiem his wife had been killed in an airstrike on a weapons plant she'd been employed at. He had taught Biology at the University of Frondhiem. He'd been educated in New Corneria. He made successful people, except four years ago when his entire class had been drafted and sent to the front lines to be fed to the human's monstrous war machine.

Thinking about all of it almost made him cry, they'd been so young, they'd been so intelligent. And in the end they'd died for nothing. The humans struck a deal with Frondhiem shortly after the initial battles allowing them to retain autonomy within the Human's empire. He supposed they were relatively fortunate. Frondhiem was the only country the Humans had invaded that had been given the bargain. In fact it was the only really independent country left on Cerinia. But it was a government of prostitutes and puppets, all of them gave in to every human stipulate. 'Independent' state was a misnomer. The elections were rigged and the humans had soldiers to protect their precious loyalists.

Jorry lifted his coat up just a little bit, making sure the bomb he'd strapped to himself was still there and he held the draw string that would end his life nervously in his sweaty palms. He'd reached his target, a large shopping area that was mostly frequented by the richer people in the town and the only people who got rich these days were ones the humans wanted to get rich. There were to be no victims here, only victories. Looking around he saw many potential victories, he went to an area that looked particularly crowded.

It was time, he tightened his grip on the drawstring, and he was surprised he was having no second thoughts about this. _They killed everyone you cared for, now it's your turn. _He was about the pull the string when he saw a family walking by, a happy dad, a happier wife and two bouncy little kids that looked like they could be no older than six or seven. The sight filled him with disgust rather than remorse, _Why should they have family? Why them? _He almost didn't pull the string until the family passed. Almost.

* * *

"Come in" shouted Governor Nhewame as someone knocked at the door to his spacious office. The door opened and a tall Cerinian dressed in a business suit similar to the one Nhewame wore entered carrying a manila envelope.

"I have the status report from the Northlands you requested from General Yao." He said holding up the folder in his tattooed paw. Nhewame had always wondered what the tattoos meant but had never asked.

"Yes, and?" Nhewame rolled his fingers on his desk, the Northlands had gone to complete shit over the past year, there were rebel groups scattered all over the place and some of them were stirring up trouble in the South even.

"There was a suicide bombing today in Frondheim, about forty five dead and sixty injured, CA forces up there are becoming increasingly lax with law enforcement and there is supposedly a huge rift within the northern CA between Loyalists and Rebel sympathizers." The Cerinian then pressed a button on the end of Nhewame's desk bringing up a global map. Cerinia Major was shaped like a really compressed snow man. The Northlands were one unified country that stretched from sea to sea on Cerinian major almost five thousand kilometers. The continent itself bulged the farther you got south until about the equator. Most land didn't go far south of the equator except a massive peninsula in the south-west which was another semi-independent state called Jundir. It didn't have much to offer and was rather third world with a massive population.

There were a few large islands far south of the Equator that were claimed by Corneria but with almost no Cornerians living there. Lester, the administrative city for all of Human controlled Cerinia was on the equator directly east of the Isthmus of Bohan that was the only land connection between Cerinia Major and Minor. There was a small red line indicating the DMZ. Going north from the DMZ was a sea that got wider and wider the farther it went North until about a thousand miles separated Cerinia Minor and Major. All in all the continent was about five thousand kilometer north to south and roughly eight thousand east to west.

The Cerinian aide hit a few more buttons and the map twirled around and recalibrated, it then brought up a map of the eastern Northlands, were Frondheim was and a good majority of the trouble.

"Yao is requesting either 400,000 human troopers or 600,000 CA soldiers from the south, he says the ones in the North have almost no real loyalty to us, even the 'Loyalists'. He has had no success using them." Nhewame rested his chin on his hands. If he sent the human soldiers that might cause flair ups in the South which was the more critical area to hold, If he sent CA from here not only would it take valuable police force but the CA might get infected by the dangerous ideals that had taken root in the Northlands and it would also be tough to convince a force meant to stay at home and only fight if the Cornerians invaded to invade a fellow Cerinian country. He'd regretted making the Northlands a puppet state, in retrospect it was a terrible idea. But unlike the South that had been so devastated by the war and had no more will to fight, the North never truly felt the war aside from a few bombing campaigns and minor battles. A mass killing had been considered by the previous general and Nhewame had him fired soon after. However, when the Lester ghetto had flared up shortly after the war the military had put it down with fervor, almost a little too much. But it had worked, though many still remembered it simply as 'The Suffering'.

"Sir, I'd suggest sending 150,000 humans and 400,000 CA, give him a few of both." Nhewame really didn't want to think about it right now, he simply nodded in agreement

"Tell General Yao he'll get his troops." The Cerinian aide made a small bow and turned to leave before Nhewame called him back. "I must ask you, what are those tattoos for?" The Cerinian looked down at his hands as if he'd forgotten they were there. The tattoos were all white and formed various patterns and swirls; there were only a few discernable shapes.

"I was a Tzo before the war, your equivalent of a priest or mullah. They are to remind me of the day when the Shu'Tzo will return to us and bring a paradise." Nhewame was a little taken back by the answer. He'd never even considered the local religion as why he'd get tattoos; he quite honestly knew nothing about it. Mostly because if it wasn't a problem he didn't have to deal with it or give any notice to it, but his aide's response had fed his curiosity.

"So who is this Shu'Tzo and how will he…"

"She." The tattooed fox corrected.

"…She bring back a paradise?" The aide then did something completely unexpected; he started to take of his suit and strip to nothing but his underwear. Nhewame stood there jaw dropped as the Cerinian revealed a plethora of snow white tattoos covering his entire body.

"These tattoos tell a story. Thousands of years ago when we were still emerging as a civilization Shu'Tzo was gifted with a power like no other. To be Tzo you must possess Tzo, the best thing I can think to compare it to is 'telepathy'."

"Wait, wait! You have telepathy." Nhewame interrupted the nearly nude Cerinian. He was completely dumbfounded by what he was learning.

"Not really, only the Shu'Tzo had true telepathy. I only have a very minor ability that truly grants me nothing over my fellow Cerinian, I can barely sense emotions but I still have it. But in the time of Shu'Tzo we were a warring band of people but she brought us together. She lived in a little farther north of here in a small town that has since been converted to a temple." Nhewame noticed a wave of sadness wash over the young Cerinian when he mentioned the Temple. "She was the daughter of a rich nobleman but saw the plight of the suffering masses and gave up all her money to be with them. She also had a great ability in Tzo, which before she came was used by rich men to gain secrets from their enemies. She changed it from a diplomatic weapon to a worshipped trait. She used it to cause change for the better and led a revolution against the corrupt ruler of Lester."

Nhewame was a little concerned now, this religion sounded like it could easily become radicalized and militarized like he'd heard from Earths past history. Nhewame had grown up in Central Africa in the province know as Somalia, it was predominantly Muslim but Islam had become far less radical, indeed all religion had essentially become cultural on Earth, but Nhewame knew about Earths past history and about the millions who had been willing to die for their religion.

"I think I've heard enough." Nhewame said trying to get the aide out of his office so he could think, but had one last question, "but Stagirius, how loyal do you think your people are to my rule and humanity?" The Cerinian had begun to put his clothes back on and seemed caught off guard by the question. There was a second's pause before the blue vulpine spoke.

"We're a battered and broken people, more want peace than want more war or another 'Suffering' but the old guard that saw the war will die off eventually. We are loyal for the moment, but you can't keep us locked in the ghettos forever and the human loaded government must be changed. We need jobs and we need to feel like we aren't just animals to be looked at from behind bars."

_You have no idea how close our ideas for this planet are, you are definitely a standout among your people¸ _Nhewame mentally agreed with everything Stagirius said but kept a straight face. He had said the truth, Cerinia needed to be developed soon. He'd trying to bring in companies, there was some interest for manufacturing jobs but machinery had taken most of those jobs in past centuries and it was hard to replace the efficient work and cost of a machine. Cerinia just didn't have the resources that other planets had, they'd found vast oil reserves in the Northlands and in Jundir and mineral riches in the western mountains but nothing to standout against planets like Midas or Hades who had thousands of times the riches of Cerinia with none of the problems. It was a serious problem. _There is always the Cerinian Labor Act…_Nhewame almost punched himself for considering that.

"You may go now." And this time he didn't stop the Cerinian from leaving. He quickly checked the computer built into his desk, it brought up a display of a massive meeting hall with various sections of seats colored either green or red. A big title at the top of the page read "CERINIAN LABOR ACT SESSION XII, ii. 213 YEA: 1253 NAY: 1615 ABSTAIN: 132" Letting out a sigh the Somalian sat back in his desk. The Cerinian Labor Act was basically a guise for slavery. It had been proposed not long after Humans had discovered Cerinia and had gained a surprising amount of popular support. The UNPC (United Nations Planetary Council) was running a vote on it almost biweekly and that number of YEA's was getting closer to the needed 1600 majority every day. That was one of the biggest reasons he could not get anything on this planet done, it was why the ghettos stayed up. They basically wanted to keep them in the ghettos until the law passed and now with the Northlands in near open rebellion it was almost a certainty that many representatives who'd been sitting on the fence were going to hop in with the YEA's before anymore of their potential slaves got loose. There was still a massive opposition to the Act, they'd even brought in Cerinians to testify against the act but it had been a long time since humans had truly felt organized racism. It was like four hundred years of pent up prejudice was all coming out now.

He then went to an Encyclopedia about Cerinian history. Bringing up a page on the local religion did nothing to calm his fears. When the Shu'Tzo had taken power it was far from peaceful and had caused the longest war in Cerinian history and also the third most devastating in terms of lives lost. Reading through the article Nhewame found the war had happened roughly 1500 years ago and had started in Lester and eventually an army forcefully spread it to the West in what was called 'The Reclamation'.

Nhewame was sickened by what he read, he'd read war reports but most atrocities then were that bombing crews were told to not purposefully harm the Cerinian civilians but no one chastised them when they weren't exactly careful, but here it was just horrible. Rape, Genocide, Torture, it was all there in front of him, in a thirty year period after the Shu'Tzo had led her revolution, Tzoism stretched coast to coast and had claimed nearly fifteen million lives.

Nhewame searched for more recent data, it brought up a map of Cerinia's two continents and highlighted the area the religion was widely practiced in. The only places not covered in green was the Southern half of Jundir and the Western Northlands, it also showed were the Temple of the Shu'Tzo was and much to Nhewame's relief the temple still stood. _Destroying that would be like destroying the Kabah or the Western Wall. _It still had a group of dedicated Tzo that attended it and the town it lay in had no significant human population or garrison. _We need to get this place organized soon, or else it's going to blow up in our face._

_

* * *

_

_Thump, Thump, Thump, _the sound of the Nighthawk's heavy blades cutting through the night air over Frondheim was a calming noise to Pvt. Black. There were two other soldiers sitting in the Spartan chairs of the Nighthawk. Pvt. Hawk and Pvt. Down had been with Black ever since the war started.

"So why is Yao sending us to guard that corrupt mob boss of a mayor? If the people want to hang him, I say let them." Pvt. Down, a man from Earth's 'England' said trying to initiate a conversation.

"I don't know, it's getting really bad I hear. Apparently there was another suicide bombing. The FPLA is supposedly planning something big." Pvt. Hawk spoke up; the other two winced when he mentioned the Frondheim People's Liberation Army. Those bastards had been a real nuisance in the past few years. A really big nuisance and they'd apparently allied themselves with the other big nuisance, the Army of the Shu'Tzo. It was odd having religious fanatics fighting alongside communists but when they had a common enemy differences could be set aside.

"Oh yeah, I heard it was going to be a government coup, especially since they own the countryside. That fat ass of a mayor we have in charge probably wants a little extra security, can't blame him. The CA up here are really questionable, I think half of them are probably part of the FPLA." Pvt. Black added his two cents to the conversation, but it never got to continue. A flash of red lit up below the helicopter and before anyone could react the tail had been engulfed in a massive explosion throwing the Nighthawk into a spiral down into the streets of Frondheim.

Yao awoke to a phone being pressed to his ear, it must have been 4 A.M and all he heard coming through was: "Nighthawk down! Nighthawk Down!"

**A/N:** The next two chapters will be pretty long I think, I'll try to focus more on the School soon but next chapter is probably going to have to do with the Northland rebel arc. Sorry about that, like I said I think this is a poorly thought out and poorly planned story but I'm going to stick with it just in case some likes it.


End file.
